August 3, 2000
Indonesia has failed to make "concrete progress" on agreements it signed with the United Nations regarding the situation in East Timor, the U.N. Security Council said Thursday.
The 15-nation council said in discussion on East Timor that Jakarta has shown cooperation, but it regretted that "serious problems persist and it looks forward to the agreements being translated into concrete progress on the ground".
Jakarta and the U.N. in April signed agreements on legal, judicial and human rights matters, and on security at borders between East and West Timor. East Timor is being administered by the U.N. until it assumes full independence in two or three years, while West Timor is an Indonesian territory.
The council asked Jakarta "to cooperate more closely" with the U.N. mission in East Timor to stop cross-border incursions from West Timor by pro-Jakarta militiamen. It said the militiamen should be disarmed and disbanded, and those responsible for crimes should be prosecuted. The militiamen shot and killed a New Zealand U.N. peacekeeper last week in East Timor, an action condemned by the council.
On Thursday, the U.N. reported that Australian peacekeepers shot dead two militiamen during a skirmish that took place on Wednesday at the border region. More than 100 U.N. peacekeepers were involved in the sweep in the border region, backed by helicopters from the Royal New Zealand Air Force and Australian army. dpa tn mr
